500 Days Of Zuko
by GangsterMama
Summary: An off-beat romance that almost seems to awkward to be true.


Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar:The Last Airbender I wouldn't be here. I don't own (500) Days of Summer either.

It's loosely based off the movie.

* * *

And then it was Zuko.

Day 1

He stood frigidly, heat radiating off of his shoulders, the air around him sweltered and Katara almost took a step away from him in the elevator. It was starting to become unsettling, sweat clung to the back her neck and she swatted her hand in front of her face, trying to act nonchalant about the temperature. What little wind that came off it was no short of a god send, only accentuated by thickening the sweat on her palm, the cooling effect of the solidified water particles quickly made its magic.

_Ice, oh sweet, smelly ice, how I crave thee._ It was gross work but it helped in emergencies like this, and he was so an emergency. She peeked at him; he had rested a pale hand against his hip and his left foot tapped impatiently. A pout now replaced his otherwise irate expression, the dark haired boy totally pulled off the ruffled mother hen look.

Katara of the water tribe swallowed and looked to the opaque ceiling, a faint patch of grey in its corner, _come on, hurry up. _She went back to her inspection of the new meat. Katara stifled a giggle, _No I meant professional fellow employee, do you remember Jet? _ She scowled at the memory.

The brooding boy turned, the girl's eyes had distracted him from his train of thought, their residence on his face made him uncomfortable and now their blaring blues seemed to be trying to create a hole into his skull. Zuko coughed gracelessly into his hand , earning nothing but an increasingly unclear throat.

'…Hello?' it bothered his speech, and is edict came out more low and breathy, making him sound like some chain smoking dude you would find stalking someone on their phone. Or was he overthinking it? _Normal guys sounded like this, or did she also think the prior?_ His golden eyes darted to the video camera planted into the top right corner. _Do you reckon the normal guys watching this would find it weird?_

The cerulean attired woman seemed to switch on however to his social advances, uncannily like a machine and Zuko was slightly unnerved.

A bothersome noise captured both of their attentions, alerting them of their arrival onto the third sector of the building. Its harsh trilling drilled it's way into their ears, digging its way deep into her brain and Katara flounced out of the small vessel.

Zuko stood awkward, a hand out in mid wave as she left him with no word.

Day 120

Zuko was upset. Again.

'Come on man, it wasn't that bad' He gave Sokka a look. A look that said it was that bad. Sokka shrugged and pointed to his plate.

'Are you going to eat that?' The paler boy frowned, and snatched the jerky sandwich away.

'Of course!' Zuko gestured for a waiter to come by and pack it away. A short merchant boy arrived, swathed in bright green colors and an undercoat of impishness and collected the holy sandwich, successfully smashing it in his grubby fingers as he carted it off to the backroom. The water tribe boy sniffed irritably.

'So what did you say?'

'I told him she wasn't my girlfriend'

'That was harsh'

'You think?'

The boy came again, his hat was a tall thing, pasty cream and a strip of gold that ended at its beak. His smile appeared brighter this time.

'And you finally kissed her and all' The waiter smashed the sandwich box in front of them. A little more forcibly and eyed Zuko like he was a platypusbear. His countenance had changed.

'Is that…' he picked up the box again and threw it at Zuko.

'All?' he enunciated the last part, showing of his teeth wolfishly and it him , leaning forward and raising his eyebrows at Zuko.

Sokka seemed not to notice anything and Zuko gulped.

'Hi I-' Sokka stuck his hand out and waved, grabbed the firebender by his shirt and exited. He knew the signal, when things got uncomfortable Zuko regressed to what he liked to call ' _the potty training puppy stage'_, hypothetically of course, Sokka wouldn't know how he would ever survive if it was literally true. The stumbling would just get out of control.

Day 316

Katara smiled and put a hand to his lips, silencing him. Zuko blinked. _Does he even know how dorkable he is?_ She giggled. Katara leaned in for a hug but Zuko misinterpreted. Her tanned arms reached out, colliding with his back tenderly, her fingers descending into the uncharted mess that was his hair, all sticking up into odd angles and dark and velvety and soft. The sun was rising, light invaded the little gaps in between them and the wind rushed the leaves. Its golden rays embraced their forms and made harmony in Zuko's eyes. Oracle yellow, laced with obstinate ore was gently increased the splendor of his pupils by the annexing golds.

He was fire bender a after all, and she always found him at his warmest at the Sun's arrival or it's departure. With the leaving of the sun, the moon would shine. _ How ironic, _Katara thought _, it only intensified the beauty of this moment. _ Even his scar was beautiful. Right down to the red curve above his dimple that he would get when he would smile at her. _Just like in this moment._ She almost wanted to touch it. Katara stopped herself, she rather a hug. A hug was nice, a hug was safe. A hug was good, because it was starting to get chilly.

She wanted his friendship she told herself, she continued her journey, inclining into his body and relishing into the unbridled warmth he would bring. _A hug of friendship_, she reminded herself, almost glumly.

Suddenly, a light touch broke her form her reverie. It was gentle but sloppy and it was quick. Like lightning on her shoulder and she almost thought some kind of disgusting crap had fallen from the trees, she looked back up. A blushing Zuko stared at his lap.

'Did….you just kiss my shoulder?'

'NO!' He yelled, embarrassment clearly marked on his face. Somewhere out there, deep in the heart of the park, a flying lemur looked up, dropping its berry on the floor. It screeched. Or was it Zuko?

'…Okay, okay you didn't' Katara mumbled back, rolling her azure eyes.

Day 35

Katara trolled through her computer, glancing up occasionally to the trouble boy at the opposing end. He was penning something fast, a cup of steaming blend of lemon and lavender tulsi that wafter over her nose rested by his hands. A chuckling dragon running across the tiny drinking piece , it swelled purple and pink , a bunch of jasmine flowers plotting its way around the beast's limbs, it looked vaguely familiar.

She decided to go for it, Katara stomped her way there. _Just going to the printer , nothing else._ She floated near him, catching a glimpse of what he was writing and almost gagging.

A emerald and tapioca dyed card was printed 'Getting Older On Your Birthday Huh?' . Katara stopped for a peek, busying herself with the papers littering on a black desk. It had multiple stains and a burnt gash across its leg. Zuko opened it up , reading it what lay inside and throwing away his pen.

'Better Buy You a R_ocking_ Chair Then' A picture of a bender sitting on a rock was shown at the bottom.

_LAME. _Katara sneered and shook her head, the loops of her temporarily obstructing her vision. She walked off. _I'll give him two weeks tops. _

Day 198

'So then I totally fell into this rut and the man, no joke cried' Sokka removed a piece of cabbage leaf from his shoulder. He then turned to the crimson garbed boy opposite him. A sly look passed his face, he twirled his hand into his wolf's tail and motioned his eyebrows up and down.

'So…should I leaf…you alone to brew your thoughts?' Zuko looked up blankly.

A grin broke out of on his slender, mocha face, Sokka laughed buoyantly and chugged down his cup and crashed it down to the table like it was some shot of liquor. With an exaggerated smack of his lips, Sokka leaned back into his chair.

'I think I love her…' Zuko whispered.

Day 201

'I hate her! She nags and nags and nags, she is not my mother!' Sokka's eyes were glassy.

'I only burnt the curtains, its not like I burnt the whole office down! As if I did it on purpose in the first place!' Zuko pulled of a bit of melted stapler from his shirt and rubbed off the soot from his hair. A cloud of ash moved down onto the table, and painted the tea pot black. It's fat belly was no longer happy with tea but cold and stale with remnants of a soggy mixture swirling at its bottom.

'And it's all Azula's fault! But no!' Zuko raised his arms at this time, and Sokka lost his day dream quality.

Suki in a bikini was traded for an exasperated Zuko.

'Katara says I should be all mature and take it outside! For Agni's sakes, it was raining! What? Am I meant to deal with lightning and a storm?' Zuko growled, and folded his arms.

'A woman's heart is like a flower, pretty and loving and like all things in this world, essential to life . With much care and attention they will prosper but carelessness and rough handling will uproot its love and make it wither away' Iroh said, refilling the pot with a jasmine scented concoction of dancing browns.

'So…give Azula flowers?' Iroh smacked Zuko lightly on the head.

Day 483

'He's getting married' Katara cried, running into Aang who dropped a piece of jewelry in haste to the assault. The flowery piece lay forgotten as the familiar scent of the beach filled his nostrils.

'He's get married…' she repeated, her words muffled in his shoulder. Aang felt bad, despite Zuko, he loved her. And now she was crumbling, Katara, the strong one, Katara the Mighty, and she was crumbling. He didn't like seeing her like this. She wasn't meant to cry over silly things like this. She was Katara the practical. When men died, she wept, when war ravaged a town, she wept.

Not over some stupid boy. Aang crushed his face into her shoulder.

'To that gloomy girl, the Mai woman…oh he's getting married' She sniffed loudly, her grip tight.

'I'm sorry Katara' He grabbed her shoulders and stepped away, wiping her tears, the avatar tried to smile but her anguish pulled at his heart.

'You deserve much more than you think'

'Oh Aang' she leaped back into his arms. They swayed a little.

Day 252

Bei Fong Gala she liked to call it. Despite being a fundraiser for 'Save The Flying Bison Foundation', it was nothing but Bei Fong this and Bei Fong that. She watched Toph glide by, garbed in rich creams and gilded greens , she now understood why the younger girl hated it so much. It was too stuffy. Almost snobbish. Folding a napkin, signed with the ever prominent and pristine winged boar, she dumped it in the winged boar bin and walked towards the winged boar cakes that were stuff with her favourite custard.

'Why hello, yes I do particularly love those trufflepearls, yes do go on sir' Katara glared at Sokka, his nose pointed in the air, clutching on to his shirt, a makeshift cloak as he continued to talk in fake tones. Aang stood beside him , giggling and occasionally nodding his head in agreement with half lidded eyes and a pout on his mouth. _Very snooty indeed. _

She rolled her eyes heaven ward.

Katara set down her pomegranate flute and went to fetch Toph. She needed amusement; there is only so much you can take without dying from boredom. Readjusting her skirts, a plush sapphire color that rustled stiffly with a snowy border, and marched towards the unseeing child's location. A hand stopped her. Katara looked up to find the frowning face of Zuko.

'Hi…'

'Hello'

They stood for awhile. He sniffed and slid his left foot around the marble tiles. It reflected our faces, his hair was pulled up in a top knot. A single flame twisted around the bun, it shone in the chandelier's light. He always seemed to find a way to shine.

'I didn't know you were here'

'Oh'

_Well this was getting no where. _

'Zuko, would you like to dance?' He almost looked affronted and then eagerly outstretched his elbow in Katara's direction. She took it, gingerly leading the way.

Carefully incased in arms, at first he was stiff but soon melted. A smile spread across his handsome face, followed by blush staining his cheeks. _He should do that more often. _Katara whirled them around.

At the back of the hall Toph snorted. _Of course she would lead._

DAY 500

The sun had left a while ago, it was starting to get late. The moon peach trees had opened their flowers, and complimented the air with their sweet scents.

'Do you want me to walk you home?' Katara laughed at his question.

'A master bender like me, I should be asking you that' Zuko grinned forlornly.

'Oh burn...' Katara bit her lip.

'Get it? because I'm a firebender'

'Sokka?' Zuko nodded.

Katara patted him on the shoulder and left the park. Leaving Zuko, his head bowed, a golden band on his finger.

Wandering down the lanes, passing the Jasmine dragon, she touched her necklace, the metal was cool. She shivered, slightly, and leaves seemed to pelt her as the breeze gained its speed.

A clock chimed and she distinctly recognized it was 12'oclock. _Would there ever be another just like him for her?_ Zuko had been awkward and a total dork, he had been sullen and moody but he was hers at one point. And she cherished that. He had been her awkward, and moody Zuko. The one who embarrassed to easily, the passionate one who spoke so flamboyantly about his nation and his livelihood. Who else would she have now? Katara could feel an onslaught of tears starting to come. _There was no one to boss around anymore._ She hiccupped. Katara bumped into something, a 'oof' now resonated in her ears. Katara gazed up, a familiar face staring back at her.

And then it was Aang.

Day 1

* * *

I love the thought that Sokka and Zuko have this bromance. I can picture him trying to get Zuko to lighten up, encouraging him to joke around. But being Zuko, isn't the best at cracking jokes.

I got the idea of this story from the song 'Four Season' and obviously the movie '(500) Days of Summer'. The awkwardness just reminded me of Zuko during the initial stages of the third book and I was like 'hey why not? its the holidays!'

Yes this was mainly Zutara, but I still love Katang , and I know , no boos! they ended up together in the end.

You might need to watch the movie to get this or maybe not, hopefully not.

This was my first time at writing anything avatar. Hope you enjoyed, let me know kay? So i don't know, did it come across as OOC? i hope not!


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